Pushback Network » event

Investing in Nevada’s Working Families for a Secure Economy

Samiya Bashir — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:42:47 +0000

300-350 people who have been on the receiving end of the billion dollar cuts, including people with disabilities, teachers, state workers, and parents of autistic children, protested at Nevada’s state capitol building to tell the Governor and Legislators that further reductions in the state budget are unacceptable.

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (“PLAN”) presented a “Nevada Budget Planning Tool kit” comprised of band aids, bailing wire, duct tape and a beggers cup to the Governor, who speaker after speaker condemned for his lack of leadership in dealing with this crisis.

Everyone pulled together with signs, banners, rousing speeches and good spirits so they could hear us “a mile away”, as one reporter told said. PLAN, along with the hundreds of demonstrators, demanded the Governor and the Legislature invest in Nevada’s working families to bolster the state’s economy, an economy which depends on well-educated Nevadans, safe communities, a sound transportation infrastructure and affordable health care and housing.

Nevada’s political structure is deeply resistant to fixing Nevada’s dysfunctional tax structure. PLAN’s event at the Legislature–the largest since 2003–proved that citizens will fight harder to force state leaders to make the tax system more fair and more stable in order to adequately fund services. This is our fight; we’re in it to win. We look forward to working with you.

In January, PLAN will release a comprehensive report detailing its plans for investing in Nevada’s working families or a secure economic future. Sign on to their email list to stay informed!

Read more about this event, widely covered in the media, by clicking on the links below:

New York Community Leaders Come Together to Strengthen Ties and Plan Effective and Complementary Strategies for Success

Samiya Bashir — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:51:19 +0000

Pushback Network’s recent New York State Alliance convening, held in New York City on June 13th and 14th, brought together organizers from across its broad and diverse network for two days of learning, sharing, relationship building and strategic planning.

In attendance were staff and volunteers from Coalition for Economic Justice / Buffalo Jobs with Justice, Community Voices Heard, Make the Road New York, Metro Justice / Rochester Jobs with Justice, New York City AIDS Housing Network, New York City Jobs with Justice, and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

Together the group of twenty-one community leaders worked to share and solidify their 2008 state-wide electoral field plans, cross-train through exciting new data management systems, share information and resources around current programs and activities, and look ahead through 2008 to 2009 justice and advancement opportunities.

Organizer-led Training Clinics focused on effective field programming, and strategic planning, volunteer and membership integration, and educational sessions focused on differentiating partisan versus non-partisan organizing techniques. An informative Technology Clinic was offered by Alice Aguilar of the Progressive Technology Project, PBN Program Director Jason Cooper led an engaging program highlighting the intersections between the local organizing work being done and the “bottom-up” statewide, regional and national implications and opportunities afforded by that work.

PBN’s emphasis on peer-to-peer learning and resource sharing, as afforded by its state-wide, regional and national convenings of staff and volunteer organizers and community leaders, deeply engages attendees in each other’s work and learning, as well as their own, as a part of a mutually beneficial cooperative process.

Interactive sessions offered attendees the opportunity to put new and enhanced skills into practice and reinvigorated staff, volunteers and members throughout the two-day convening. The opportunity to strengthen relationships, share updates and troubleshooting approaches, and develop processes for mutual success in a fast-moving political climate achieved its goals for New York State Alliance members while increasing the collective excitement about working together and seizing the opportunities afforded by both the current electoral cycle and the coming calendar year.

Here are some pictures from the event. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Kentucky Leaders Make Plans for Summer Training Institute

Samiya Bashir — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:20:10 +0000

PBN’s Kentucky State Alliance partners are working hard to plan an exciting and fruitful Voter Empowerment Training scheduled for July 25-27, 2008.

Staff and volunteers from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Kentucky Jobs with Justice, including street & community captains, and volunteers and staff from organizational allies will come together for three days of education and training toward a shared understanding up the PBN-KY approach to voter empowerment.

Sessions led by Kentucky Community Leaders, as well as leaders from PBN partners in New Mexico who will travel to Kentucky as a part of PBN’s emphasis on peer-to-peer learning and resource sharing, will offer crucial relationship-building activities, as well as concrete opportunities to learn about:

integration of orgaqnizing and voter empowerment;
the difference between the PBN/KY State Alliance approach and classic/partisan campaigns;
the value-added of Pushback Network and the Kentucky Pushback Alliance for diverse, local — both rural and urban — organizing, social justice, and voter empowerment groups, initiatives, and campaigns;
specific strategies for working effectively with immigrant communities around voter empowerment;
effective voter empowerment strategies in rural communities; and
working respectfully and effectively across lines of difference (inlcuding race, class and age).

Dozens of organizers are expected from around the state and Training Planners Dave Newton, Darnell Johnson and Lisa Abbott say attendees will leave the Training with the skills and confidence to engage in effective, non-partisan voter outreach.

This electoral season is shaping up to be the best yet for in affording KY communities the opportunity to make each action count both at home and throughout their state!

2008 Campaign School: Building on Experience, Training for Success

Brigid Flaherty — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:27:08 +0000

In Los Angeles, California labor and community organizations have long-recognized the need for a joint campaign training program — a program that would include both in-class and field training components.

That’s exactly what took place the weekend of April 5-6, 2008, when over 25 community and labor activists, including PBN reps, gained the skills needed to run an efficient electoral field program at this year’s Campaign School.

The Campaign School successfully engaged and activated everyone who attended through helpful skills-building trainings facilitated by staff and leadership from the LA County Federation of Labor, UCLA Labor Center, LA Trade Tech Labor Studies Center, and PBN California partner, SCOPE.

The School then developed the skills of participants by providing trainings in the following key areas:

The Big Picture: Understanding the political landscape surrounding our work: What is the issue? Why do we do what we do? Why is it important? What will it take to win?
Developing Campaign Strategies and Plans: Understanding the basics components of effective electoral field programs including strategy development, key staff roles, recruiting allies and volunteers, overall timelines, and action planning.
Audience Targeting: Who will receive our message?
Message Development: How do we move our target audience?
Message Delivery: Overview of the most effective methods such as one-on-one trainings, door-to-door outreach, phoning, and worksite visits.
Volunteer Recruitment and Management: How to recruit volunteers and keep them engaged and active.
Logistics: What are the mechanics of a campaign? What are the technical components?
Training Volunteers: How to train for precinct walks, phone banks, presentations, worksite activities, etc.
Results Tracking: Why is it so important? What are the important pieces for tracking? What tools & techniques are needed for effective tracking and evaluation of results?

The 2008 Campaign School proved to be an invaluable experience, not just for myself, but for everyone involved. Campaign School fulfilled its goal of increasing the internal political capacity of statewide alliance-affiliated labor unions, community organizations, and other partners left feeling confident that they could successfully train and deploy teams of field organizers, telephone campaigners and canvassers, and more, during volunteer mobilizations.

(Pictured above: Sharon Delugach, Staff Director of UCLA Labor Center, presenting at 2008 Campaign School.)